Just Another Day
by justforfum
Summary: He wants to do something special for her. But juggling work and everyday life, would he even have time? For the EFB prompt "Year long relationship"


**A/N: Im goong to be busy with things over the next two weeks so, as a treat, I wanted to give you all some good old fluff. and lo and behold, EFB's prompt is "Year long relationship". The theme is a relationship between two characters after the honeymoon phase in dating is all burned out. Naturally, this will be a Cheve fic. How would they fare after a year of being together? This takes place in Elrios. no modern AUs. I wanted to capture that struggle of dating while being an adventurer!**

"Els?" the whisper of a young man cut through the serenity of the approaching dawn.

The snoring ceased as the sound of his name roused him from his slumber. Years of roughing it in the wild had conditioned the knight to respond to any disturbance. Chung watched as Elsword's eyes fluttered open for a brief moment before closing, again.

"Hmm?" was the knights single, groggy response.

"I, uh, have a request." He watched the slow rise and fall of Elswords chest as he processed what the Hamelian was saying.

"Shoot."

Chung rolled on his back, shutting his eyes as he carefully recited his request one more time in his head. He knew what he was asking for would be too much. But he had to try.

"So, I've been thinking about setting some time aside from the group; an entire week to be exact," the Hamelian said as he stared up at the tent ceiling. After putting off the talk for a whole month - after searching for that perfect time in between traveling, hunting, trading, and slaying criminals and demons alike - he knew it was either now or never. "Would that be okay with you?"

"A whole week, huh?" Elsword mumbled, "Why?"

"Personal reasons," Chung said.

"You can tell me."

"I was hoping I'd keep it a secret at least until I got the go ahead-"

"Mmm, I see… That's good… That's good," Elsword answered half-heartedly. He was riding that fine line between dreaming and consciousness and snorted incoherently as he tried to give his friend a verdict. Chung waited patiently for a long moment, giving the redhead the benefit of the doubt before sighing and punching the leader on the arm, startling him awake.

"Ask my secretary," Elsword grumbled, rolling to his side, away from Chung.

"Elesis?"

"No. The other one."

"Raven told me to ask you," the Hamelian replied.

"Chung," Elsword groaned, "Can this wait til morning? I don't have night watch, for once, and I'd like to enjoy my full night's worth of sleep."

"Sorry, Els, I would but-" Chung began, only to be interrupted by a shrill string of chirps from a source resting between the two of them. A black mechanical drone, no bigger than a basketball in size, sat idly between the two seperate sleeping bags. Its tiny yellow camera ports opened as a bright blue projection displayed the current time: 5:00 AM along with a message that read "Rise and shine!" complete with holographic confetti and fireworks.

"It's already time to wake up," the young prince finished.

Without looking, Elsword reached over, bonking Moby on his head, silencing it. The redhead sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He smacked his lips loudly as he slowly turned to face the young prince who had clearly been awake well before the leader.

Elsword yawned, stretching as he gradually came to. "Run all of that by me one more time."

* * *

"A trip to Elder? That's at least a day's worth of travel on airship," Elsword commented.

"That's kind of why I wanted a whole week off. Otherwise I wouldn't have time to actually do anything," Chung reasoned. He could see his breath as he spoke in the brisk morning air. The nights have indeed grown longer as of the past few weeks as the orange skies of a breaking dawn was only now starting to appear above the canopy.

Raven had just returned from his patrol with a bag filled to the brim with nuts and berries he had collected during his early morning shift. He greeted the other two with a good morning as he went ahead and began sorting out breakfast for the group.

"The girls aren't done, yet?" Raven asked, noting that Chung and Elsword looked quite cold standing around in nothing but a towel and clutching their day clothes tightly around their chest.

"You know how women can be," Elsword replied with a grin.

"I hear ya," Raven chuckled, shaking his head. With a quick strike of the flint, the Blade Master set the kindling to the new campfire ablaze for the two of them.

"Actually, we just about finished," Rena said, catching their attention. The elf and Elsword's older sister stepped through the tree line, both still running towels through their hair.

"Water's freezing though. Ugh, I'd kill for a hot bath, again," Elesis added.

"Yeah, well, bandit hideouts and dark gateways tend to show up a great deal away from major cities, so roughing it is much more efficient than traveling to and from the capital," Raven reminded her. The elf took a seat next to him.

"I can handle this," Rena offered as Raven began sorting through the bag of berries, "Go and have your bath."

Raven waved her offer off. "Warm up by the fire. I got this," He then turned to the boys, "You two go ahead. I'll catch up."

Elsword shrugged and the two of them made their way to the river.

"Eve's still changing, by the way!" Elesis warned, garnering a passive thumbs up from the two friends.

"Going back on what we were talking about," Elsword said once they were beyond earshot, "What is it that you actually plan on doing? I mean a week in Elder? In the winter season, too?"

"Well," Chung sighed, looking over his shoulder at the other three gathered around the fire, "It's sorta… our anniversary."

Elsword raised an eyebrow. "Anniversary? Whatta ya mean?"

Chung motioned ahead towards the river and he watched as his friend put two and two together in his head. His eyes grew as he quietly mouthed an "Oh" and nodded understandably.

"Has it already been a year? Congrats, dude," Elsword whispered, "Does she know?"

"I haven't told her yet. We never had a real specific date when we sorta made it official, but It's around this time and, I thought, you know, I should do something special for her - which was why I wanted to ask if it was okay with you in the first place."

"I see… I see. So you want a week off to go to Elder for the winter."

"Can I?"

"I'll think on it."

The sound of rushing water can be heard through the trees as they neared the water's edge. It was a small creek with a slow, shallow current surrounded by a line of shrubbery. Discovered by Rena a few years prior during the campaign to clear out the dark presence infesting Feita. It was the perfect place for bathing.

"Remember," Chung said as they neared the clearing, "She might still be changing, so…"

"Right, right," Elsword sighed. He went ahead and covered his eyes and placed a hand on Chung's shoulder, letting himself be guided to the body of water.

Chung carefully made his way to the water's edge. He felt Elsword's grip on his shoulder tighten as his feet touched the cold surface. Elesis wasn't lying. The water was freezing. Scanning the shore, Chung spotted white locks peeking out from behind a bush to his right. He grabbed Elsword by the shoulders and faced him to the left.

"Face this way."

"Got it." And with that, Elsword dropped his hand from his eyes and set his things down to begin washing up.

Satisfied, Chung made his way to the bush stopping just short of being discovered. She had just finished toweling off and, from where the young prince was standing, he could see she was in the process of pulling on a fresh pair of panties. It appeared black was the color of the day. She began wringing the water out of her hair when Remy, her white drone accompanying her, chirped to warn her of an intruder. Her body tensed as she turned with a towel quickly pulled over her chest.

"Don't panic. It's just me," Chung waved, stepping around the bush after being caught.

"Oh. It's you," was her single, flat, response. To anyone else, it would have sounded as if she were indifferent - possibly borderline annoyed - at Chung for trying to peep at her while she was changing. But the prince saw a different reaction. The subtle way her shoulders relaxed, the slight tilt of her head as if acknowledging and questioning his presence more out of curiosity than of revulsion, she might as well be greeting him "good morning" standing there in nothing but her underwear.

"Just as a heads up: Elsword's here as well. Don't let me catch you spying on him," Chung warned in a joking manner, motioning at the knight who was dutifuly keeping his back turned towards the two and in the process of dumping a bucket ice cold water over his head.

She peeked over the bush, eyes quickly catching a glimpse of the redhead if but only for a second before she returned her attention to the prince. The Nasod put a hand over her lips as if she were caught red-handed, "Oops."

Chung rolled his eyes but couldn't help but chuckle. The expression was missing in her face but he could tell Eve was enjoying herself teasing him like that.

She stood there, with her hand on her hip, subtly, but definitely posing for the young man standing in front of her. Her fair skin glistened in the rising sun and Chung couldn't help but drink in the sight of her: her long silver hair that cascaded down her back, the petite chest hidden behind a loosely held towel, the way her waist and hips complimented her slender thighs-

"What is it, darling?" Eve asked feigning ignorance in that special way only Nasods were capable of. She clearly noticed that Chung was giving her elevator eyes. If she wanted his attention she knew just how to get it. The pet name was just the cherry on top.

Chung smiled, shaking his head. "Did you get a mosquito bite, love?" he asked, using her pet name in response

Eve blinked and turned her hips from side to side, following Chungs eyes as she inspected herself, "I don't believe mosquitoes would benefit much biting me… where is it?"

Chung grinned and reached out, playfully pinching the Nasod on her butt. "Here."

Eve gasped, body tensing once more as her hand quickly snatched the prince by the arm. Any other person in this situation would have most certainly overstepped their personal boundaries and were due for a sharp slap to the face. Chung, however, received nothing aside from bright golden eyes that warily darted from him to his friend bathing not too far away.

"He's not looking," Chung reassured her, glancing at Elsword along with her. He could feel the grip on his forearm loosen. She was never one for public display of affection, Chung knew this, but when they were alone-

He felt her hand fall over his, pressing it against her in such a way that his palm firmly rested against her buttock. Her fingers tantilizingly traced up his arm, finding his toned bicep and giving it a stiff squeeze that caused her to bite her lower lip while her eyes glided over the details of his chest.

"You wanna do something tonight?" Chung asked in a low whisper.

"That depends," Eve whispered back, pressing herself against him, a single towel seperating the two. She tilted her head curiously at him, feigning ignorance, yet again, "What did you have in mind?"

She was trying to force it out of him. She knew what he was implying but Eve just wanted to hear him say it.

"Well if it's clear tonight I was thinking a little star gazing after dinner. We've been hard at work for so long I thought a little bit of 'us' time would be good. No talking necessary. Just you and I enjoying each other's company."

It wasn't the answer she was looking for but the way Chung pitched it, she couldn't have had it any other way. She leaned forward, giving him a light peck on the cheek before whispering an "I'd love to" and pulled away from him.

"It's a date, then," Chung said.

"It's a date," Eve nodded and continued dressing herself, allowing him a brief glimpse of her back as she pulled on the black one piece. He backed away from her, getting one last eyeful of her before disappearing around the brush to join his friend.

"Took long enough," Elsword commented as he rinsed the last bit of soap off of him, he handed Chung the community bucket And began toweling off, "Did you at least grab her butt?"

"I did," Chung declared in mock triumph.

"Nice," the knight said, giving the prince a high five, "Now describe the texture and firmness in excruciating detail. I've been dying to know since she joined."

Chung playfully tossed a bucket full of water at the knight, soaking everything including his towel in ice water. Chung grinned, giving him the middle finger before Elsword retaliated, quickly rolling his towel into a tight knot and whipping Chung square in the head.

From there it was a back and forth war between the two where nothing but a mix of laughter and incessant splashing could be heard.

They continued for sometime until Eve safely left the premise. As she left, Chung swore he had briefly caught her shaking her head at the two of them. When she was safely beyond earshot, Chung handed Elsword his dry towel and the two quietly resumed their morning routine with one thought in both of their minds.

"So, I've reached a verdict," Elsword said, pulling on his tunic.

"Yeah? And am I clear to go, then?" Chung asked, rinsing off the last bit of soap.

"Yeah. For sure. I mean it's the first anniversary for you two. I don't want to be that guy," Elsword nodded. But then, something dawned on the redhead. "Wait, so… Okay, it's your anniversary and all and you're going on vacation… Does that mean she's…?"

Chung paused as he realised what Elsword was getting at, "Is it okay if Eve has a week off, too?"

Suddenly all sense of agreement on the matter vanished in Elsword's eyes.

"Els… C'mon, man. I'm asking you as my best friend."

"Chung… I don't know. With the amount of dark portals cropping up around Feita, we need as much help as we can get. Losing both of you for a week is a bit… risky."

Chung sighed, sitting on the rock as Elsword tossed him back his towel. "How about this: I'll take all of your night watch shifts for a week," he offered. Elsword didn't look like he was budging on the matter. The prince stood, gesturing widely with his arms as he quickly upped the ante, "A month!"

"A month, huh…?" The knight rubbed his chin in thought.

"A month and a half?" Chung gave him a desperate smile. The offer clearly had Elsword surprised. But surprise wasn't good enough. "Two months," Chung offered.

"T-two months!?" Elsword repeated in wide-eyed excitement.

"Take it or leave it. That's a good chunk of a year of a proper night's rest. All for you."

The prince could see the cogs in the knights head continue to turn. He just needed that little push. "Two. Whole. Months."

"Deal."

* * *

"Earlier this morning I've received a note from one of my messenger falcons," Rena said, rolling out a map of Feita and Velder. She placed two markers along opposite ends of the map, a blue one resting on the north western end amidst the barrens of Feita that ran along the outskirts of Bethma's canyons. A red marker was set on the south eastern end amidst a forrest that functioned as a natural boundary that separated Feita from Velder Empire's rural farmlands.

"Apparently Aisha and the others have apprehended some of the bandit leaders in our wanted list around their area of operation," she tapped the blue marker, "And have not run into any dark portals whatsoever."

Elesis snorted, "Well aren't they lucky. Looks like we're the ones stuck with the short end of the stick battling demons day in and day out."

The group of six: Elsword, Raven, Rena, Chung, Elesis, and Eve, had all gathered around a large stump that functioned as their dining table and battle planner. Chung and Eve sat next to each other on the end opposite of Rena, idly eating their breakfast while the others hashed out their next plan of action over the next few days.

"At least we know they'll be safe," Elsword reasoned.

"You mean at least you know Aisha is safe," Chung corrected, getting a snicker from Elesis. The prince poked a fork idly at the last three berries he had saved after stomaching the tasteless military-style rations Raven had been so adamant about cramming down everyones throats. Sure, they were healthy. But it was like eating sawdust dipped in salt water.

"I mean it. For everyone, not just her," Elsword defended.

"Even Add?" Chung asked, lazily shoveling a berry in his mouth as the leader threw him a look of disgust.

"Well, okay. Most of them," Elsword relented. Elesis burst out laughing at this point.

"Uh huh," Chung mumbled, poking at his plate in search of the other two berries. His fork found none and looking down at his empty plate he was almost certain he had at least two left to eat.

"Joking aside," Raven sighed, "If the others manage to finish their job ahead of schedule, we can rendevous with them here…"

Chung checked around his plate, under it, and around his immediate area on the ground. They were gone! But how-

His gaze fell on Eve, who was looking directly at him as she tried to hide the fact she was chewing on something. He could see red juice dripping down the corner of her lips. Before he even had the chance to mouth out a silent question, she was already shaking her head in denial. He looked at her plate. She still had five of her own berries still intact! He reached over with his fork and she lightly smacked his hand away, getting an audible yelp from the prince and catching everyone else's attention.

"Is there a problem, your royal highnesses?" Raven asked after being interrupted.

"Chung is trying to steal my share of food," Eve responded.

"What?!"

"Everyone gets their share, Chung," Raven sighed, "Five berries each. no more no less."

"But she… and I… I don't," he stammered.

"We have an excess of rations if you'd like," Eve offered, getting an angry grumble from the prince.

"There, see?" Elesis snickered loudly, "All sorted out."

"Attention, please?" Raven growled, "I want everyone to be on the same page when we begin operations for this coming week." He continued with his proposal, while Chung and Eve quietly hashed out their problem on the other side of the table.

"And to think I was going to surprise you with something," Chung whispered.

Eve blinked and tilted her head, "What is it?"

Chung turned his head away, "No."

He didn't have to look to know Eve was desperately curious, now. He felt her lean in against him and he responded by turning himself more away from her. At the corner of his eye he saw her silently place a berry on his plate. And then another. And another. He continued to wear his angry face the entire time but as she gingerly shoveled over the last two of her share, he couldn't help but fight back a smile. He felt her hand crawl over his and as she entwined her fingers, he returned the gesture, though all while still vehemetly looking away from her. He felt her chin resting on his shoulder and he could feel her golden eyes burning into the side of his head.

"Tell me?" she whispered, getting a noticeable smile from the prince, "Please?"

"Alright," Rena stated with a clap of her hands, "That's it for the meeting, let's get some work done!"

Chung turned to Eve. If Nasods weren't able to give puppy dog eyes, he would deny that claim and everyone who agreed with it. Eve stared longingly at him, the soft rhythmic squeeze of her hand on his, insisting him to spill his secret.

"I'll tell you tonight," he whispered.

"Promise?"

"Yes, love, I promise."

* * *

"Holy… El… a third one?!" Elesis heaved in between breaths. Sweat poured down her jaw as he looked to the others. "Portal number three! Look alive!"

"Switch it up, people!" Elsword ordered, "Rena, Raven: take the new one. Chung, Eve: cover gate number two! Sis, you're with me! Shut them down before they overrun us!"

"Roger!" the other five responded in unison.

Another portal arose from the ground. The long dormant gateway, hidden under the ruins and desolation, burst through the dirt and stone, joining the other two as more otherworldly monsters flooded into the mortal realm. Each portal unleashed wave after wave of demons, dozens upon dozens entered Elrios teeth bared and claws ready to tear anyone limb from limb.

Unfortunately for them, however, there was an equally vicious welcoming party ready to greet them. Six of Elrios's greatest warriors held their ground against the unending tide. For every hellspawn that stepped through the gates, another of their ranks would be dispatched just as rapidly.

Arrows, bullets, and missiles bombarded the entrance in an endless barrage while the inhumanly precise blur of blades cleaned up any unlucky enough to survive the saturation of artillery.

Elsword and his party of warriors had been winning. Even with the presence of a second portal, the group were swift to adapt, splitting their numbers accordingly to handle the fresh swarm of monsters. The addition of the third portal, however, proved to be a little more than the six could handle. Even when split to work with their most compatible partners, the number of demons steadily began to rise.

Slowly but surely, with each wave that joined the fray, the El Search Party was pushed further and further away from the demon gates. Exhaustion was a suffocating, and ever present foe. Where the demon army seemed limitless in their numbers, there were only six mortals to greet every single one of them. As the morning sun journeyed across the sky, ushering in the afternoon, fatigue dawned its ugly head among the El Search Party.

Eve held her ground amidst an airborne swarm of gargoyle-like beasts, her atomic blaster glowing red at the barrel as belt after belt of fresh plasma rounds were loaded into the feed. The beasts fell from the sky by the hundreds, yet everytime she had to stop and reload, twice as many would seemingly replace the ranks.

"Eve!" Chung cried, catching her attention as a pack of striders had the prince on a full retreat. One of the panther-like beasts pounced on him, throwing him on his back and putting the Hamelian on the defensive as he jammed the barrel of his revolver into the demon's muzzle and pumped three shots into its skull before it finally stopped trying to rip his throat out. The rest of the strider's pack were quick to replace the lead, literally throwing the body off Chung before tearing into him.

"Moby!" Eve called. Without another word, the black droned quickly traced a summoning ring on the floor. His mistress stomped on the ring and the ground lurched upward, rapidly advancing to Chungs aid. Black Nasod spears shot upward around him, impaling the beasts that surrounded him and buying him enough time to grip the remaining strider by its maw and tear its jaw out from neck to chest before heaving the screeching beast off him.

Eve sighed in relief and returned her attention to the gargoyles, squeezing the trigger of her blaster once more only to find the barrel of her weapon had melted shut. She dropped the destroyed weapon and it dissipated into a stream of data as she traced another summoning circle over her head.

"Remy. Another blaster," she ordered, prompting her white drone to stream in the hundreth firearm of the day.

It formed at her side, but by then the swarm had already closed the distance.

"Eve! Look out!" The prince screamed as a gargoyle swooped in low, its talons bared and trained towards the Nasods neck.

Moby was there to intercept the rending claw, knocking the talon aside with a well timed strike. Remy followed through, slamming into the beasts gut. Moby looped upward and dove down on the demons head, bringing it tomthe ground with a sickening crack of hardened bone against rock. Still locked in place as the blaster formed in her hands another three were quick to surround her, ready to tear her limb from limb.

That was when Chung flew in. Having propelled himself with his cannon, the young prince threw all he had in his swing. The heavy destroyer collided with one of the beasts, immediately shattering the bones it connected with. He continued his flight, wrapping his free arm around the Nasod and pulling her backwads and out of harms way. The second gargoyle narrowly missed slicing Eve in two and instead flew right over her. The third found itself staring at the wrong end of a Nasod blaster as Eve hung back in Chungs arm, her weapon pointed upwards at the intended target.

She fired just enough rounds to shred the life out of the demon before Chung quickly swung her back to her feet and he turned, drawing a revolver. The last of his El reserves were poured into two precise shots that quickly put the second gargoyle down before it had a chance to even come back for a another pass.

The two of them stood back to back exhausted and well past their limit, standing in the eye of a demonic storm.

"Status report?" Eve asked, loading a fresh belt of plasma rounds into the blaster.

"One round left in the cannon and revolvers are pretty much useless, now. Im completely spent on El. Also I've lost track of the others. Haven't heard from any of them in a while. You?" he glanced over his shoulder and saw her knuckles had grown white from the way she tightly gripped her weapon. At this point the demon horde was taking its sweet time. They knew they won. The kill was so much more satisfying to them when their prey realized their inevitability.

"I have enough El reserves to summon one more weapon from my foundaries. Mana conversion levels are dangerously low. any more would put my primary life support systems in jeopardy."

"Just another day at the office, huh?" Chung laughed, his eyes tracking the circling packs of striders warily.

Eve didn't laugh. Of course, she was never one to, but the silence she held dwarfed the prince's poor attempt to lighten the situation.

"It's not looking good for us, is it?" Chung asked, his voice already carrying the grim weight of their situation. Of course Eve already saw it coming. Out of the two, she was the more rational one, putting her faith in probability rather than something as fleeting as hope. She probably gave up well before he did when the third get appeared. He knew it would be an upward climb from the start. But he never suspected it to be impossible. He had fought every single one of these demons before. He knew how to fight them all. When it came to sheer numbers, however, it was only a matter of time.

"It was a good run, Eve."

Suddenly, she turned to him, shoving the atomic blaster into his arms.

"Don't say that!" she said, her voice shaking as she summoned a second blaster for herself.

"Eve…?" the prince looked at the weapon she handed him, then up at her golden eyes.

"Don't… ever say that to me, again!" she spun around, revving the stabilizers on her blaster as a rope of plasma bolts poked holes into the solid wall of circling demons. Her blaster clicked empty and she furiously summoned another belt with her life energy and was firing again within a fraction of a second.

He had never seen her fight like this before. To push her body to the point of system shut down was something he thought he'd never see Eve do. Yet here she was, converting more of her life energy as her drones begged her to stop.

"Eve! What has gotten into you? It's over! We can't win!"

She gritted her teethas the next pool of enery she pulled from herself was significantly smaller than the last. She fell to her knees, tilting the burning red blaster as the summoning portal coughed out another belt of ammunition.

She turned to Chung, life fading from her eyes as she focused her attention on the unused weapon in his hands. Eve hoisted the blaster up as best as she could. "I fell in love… with a selfless, stubborn man who knew no fear in the face of danger… not a quitter. Are you going to die fighting as the man I love… or are you going to go out like a coward?"

It felt like an arrow had punched through his chest. Eve hadn't given up. She was still fighting. And here he was already accepting his fate as if he had no control over it. No. He wasn't going to let anyone else decide his fate for him. Not when he could still do something about it.

"We… still have a date, tonight," Eve's voice faded into a whisper as she struggled to pull more energy into one more belt of rounds.

He snatched Eve by the arm, stopping her from converting more of her life force. She struggled against his grip weakly only to see him effortlessly lift the blaster she had given him and unloaded the entire belt of plasma into the demonic horde.

"Chung…?"

"We'll talk about it later, then," Chung said with renewed resolve, "But we can't do that if you keep sapping your own strength. I'll get you out of this alive. I promise."

* * *

The sun had finally set after the long, exhausting day. The barren landscape of Feita offered little during the day with nothing but ashen grey hills and ancient, long forgotten ruins that dotted the horizon. Night, however, was a much different story. Stars shined brighter. clouds of distant galaxies mixed and mingled in a rainbow of cosmic colors. In a land desolated by war and stricken of life, it was here the cosmos shined the brightest.

Chung sat on the grass, leaning against a smooth boulder as he stared at the celestial bodies twinkling above him. Sharp jabs of pain came at him in a steady rhythm and all he had to fight back against the pain was the roll of bandages his favorite nurse-in-training crammed into his mouth. Eve carefully threaded the needle in between flaps of skin. A demon had managed to sink its teeth into his arm and would have torn it off had Eve not planted a spear into its skull. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to stop the same demon from raking the wound open further.

A health potion was available to stop the bleeding but if he wanted his arm to heal completely, he needed the wound cleaned and sutured; a task Eve was more than happy to help with.

Neither of them said a thing as she worked. Chung felt it was better this way. At least while she was still focused on fixing him up. It didn't appear Eve wanted to talk to him, anyways. He couldn't blame her, though. Now that he had time to think about it, it wasn't like him to give up like that during the fight. But that didn't stop it from hurting. What she said to him hurt his pride as a Hamelian and as her boyfriend. He didn't want her to think of him as a coward. He didn't want to die like one either. It was surprising, to say the least, that she felt just as strongly about it, if not stronger.

The bandages were carefully wrapped around his arm and she sighed, wiping the bead of sweat on her forehead while setting aside the medical supplies.

"I'll hand the supplies back to Aisha for you," Chung offered, moving to get up. Eve placed a hand on his chest, keeping him from moving as she quietly stared at the grass between them. Chungs gaze fell on the campfire in the distance. From the little hill they sat on, he could just make out Rena and Elesis in stretchers as the remaining members of the El search Party, including Add and Ain, helping out with tending to the wounded. He silently threw Eve a questioning look and, without looking at him, she simply shook her head, holding him in place.

She said nothing and, for a long moment, he felt as if Eve was waiting for him to speak.

"I guess… you can say we're lucky, huh?" Chung muttered, relaxing and returning his gaze to the stars, "If Aisha and the others hadn't shown up just then, I mean… We could've been in far worse shape."

He heard Eve shuffle around to his other side and saw the top of her head in the corner of his eye as she took a seat next to him. Still, she said nothing.

Eve was mad at him - or at least upset. Sometimes it was difficult to differentiate the two with her. He felt he knew exactly why, though.

"Listen, about earlier… what you said about not wanting me to die a coward, what you said really reminded me of who I was as a Hamelian. You're right. I shouldn't have acted that way. That was a bit morbid of me."

Eve shook her head at the corner of his eye. "That's not it."

Chung blinked and he turned his head to her. She had her head leaning back lazily on the rock, eyes turned to the stars above. There was a certain degree of loneliness in her eyes. A sense of longing that he only saw when Eve was at her lowest. He was sure that was her issue. But now he didn't know what to make of it.

Regardless, had to do something to cheer her up.

"Was it cus you were ashamed to be in a relationship with a coward?"

Again, she shook her head.

"That's not it, either."

The prunce was lost, at this point and he turned fully to her, ignoring the painful pulling sensation of his left arm as he gave her his undivided attention.

"What's wrong, love? If it's not what I said earlier, what's upsetting you so?"

Eve shut her eyes, letting out a soft, trembling, sigh.

"I was scared."

Chung blinked and tilted his head, "Scared of what? I thought demons didn't scare you."

"I was scared of losing you."

A soft breeze blew over them as the rustling of dead leaves tumbling along the barren lands filled the air.

"I… don't care about pride… I don't care about lineage or history of who we are. I was just scared. I didn't want you to give up. I wanted you to keep fighting. I wanted you to live on. So when you said 'we had a good run'," Eve slowly shook her head, "The only thought I had in my mind was you no longer being there for me. That scared me."

Chung turned again, leaning back on the rock as they stared up at the stars. His hand slowly found hers and he took it, squeezing it tightly. She didn't squeeze back. and in the cirner of his eyes he could see her turn her head away.

"I'm sorry, Eve," Chung muttered, "I wouldn't want to be separated from you, like that, ever. You have every right to be upset."

"Promise me," She said after a long pause, "just promise that you won't ever give up on me. Ever."

He squeezed her hand, again. "I promise."

This time she replied, entwining her fingers with his. They sat quietly watching moon make its journey across the night sky. Neither of them said a word and, it wasn't until a noticeable chill fell over them that Eve finally rose, stretching and sighing as she cuddled up to the prince, resting her head on the nape of his neck.

He glanced over at the others at the distant campfire. Chung and Eve may be far but they were still easy to spot.

"I thought you were against public displays of affection," Chung whispered. Though he couldn't complain, the warmth of her body was a more than welcomed gift for hundreds of reasons.

"I'm in a good mood, now," Eve whispered back.

"Oh?" Chung cocked an eyebrow as he idly traced a finger up and down her spine.

Eve nodded, "I got what I was promised."

"And that was?"

"A date."

"A date?"

"This morning a certain prince dressed in his finest clothes, proposed a romantic evening under the stars."

"Dressed in my finest? I was practically naked," Chung chuckled.

"Is that so? I can't seem to properly recall." Eve snapped her fingers and Moby and Remy appeared before her, projecting a recording of Chung in nothing but his towel speaking to the camera with sultry bedroom eyes.

"We've been hard at work for so long I thought a little bit of 'us' time would be good. No talking necessary. Just you and I enjoying each other's company," the Chung in the recording said. All the while Moby twirled in place as he playfully projected an "arousal meter" that was well past the critical zone.

"Ah, so you were," Eve said innocently as she shooed the black drone away. The recording stopped but clearly didn't deny the drones suggestive display. "I'm content, darling. You're safe, we are together, there's nothing more I can ask for. You were right. We hardly ever get time like this to spend together. It wasn't until today that I really felt that opportunity was never going to happen, again. So just… enjoy this moment with me. You never know when it might happen, again."

"Actually, I had one more surprise in mind."

"Hmm?" Eve asked, tracing circles on Chung's chest.

The Nasod tilted her head as Chungnleaned in and whispered the details. He smiled seeing her eyes widen and she sat back, looking him in the eyes.

"When?"

"Next month. Should be around the time snow starts falling in Elder."

"With no one else?"

"Nope. Just you and me."

"How… did you even convince him to let us…?"

"Two months worth of his night watch shifts."

"Chung… darling, that's too much. You need your rest too."

"I'll get plenty in our week off together."

"Chung… I don't know what to say."

Chung scratched his head, smiling at her, "An 'I love you' would be a good start."

Eve buried her head in his chest, her body a strange mess of shock and relief. She spoke into his chest, the three words muffled by his shirt.

"I didn't catch that," Chung laughed.

She raised her head, eyes staring longingly into his. "I love you."

The prince rested his forehead against hers, pecking her lightly on the lips.

"I love you, too, Eve. Happy anniversary."


End file.
